President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, gave a speech at the opening of the 55th anniversary of the Golkar Party. The event was held at the Sultan Hotel Jakarta last night (Nov. 6). Jokowi mentioned the meeting of Nasdem Party Chairman Surya Paloh and the Chairman of the opposition party PKS Sohibul Iman. The President made a joke out of it, and the audience laughed, but the President’s delivery and his expression showed his underlying disappointment.

Police Comr. Gen. Mochammad Iriawan a.k.a Iwan Bule is the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI)’s 2019-2023 chairman. He’s the first police general ever leading the PSSI. Iwan brought with him his two close friends from the Military (TNI) into the new PSSI management structure. So, it’s also the first time in history for those of the Police (POLRI) and the TNI to lead the PSSI together. That said, whoever leads the PSSI, it’s clear that the sporting association would be controlled by business people and politicians, including those linked to Bakrie Group and the Golkar Party.

The Nasdem Party—a political party led by media mogul Surya Paloh—has invited the Governor of Jakarta Anies Baswedan to the Party’s congress. Though Nasdem denied the speculation that the Party would support Anies in the 2024 presidential race, the Party cannot blame the public for thinking so. Especially considering Paloh’s recent maneuver to establish a new axis with the opposition parties.

After a month of cooling down, the tension between the Chairman of Golkar Party Airlangga Hartarto and his potential contender in the upcoming Golkar’s chairmanship congress (Munas) Bambang Soesatyo (a.k.a Bamsoet) have started to rise once more. The latter and his supporters have announced their intention to challenge Airlangga.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo decided not to issue a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) to replace the revised Law on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) No. 19/2019. President Jokowi, moreover, said he would soon appoint the members of the KPK’s supervisory team, which is a new authority given to the President per the revised KPK Law.

The ruling party PDIP reacted strongly against the move of the Chairman of Nasdem Party Surya Paloh to establish a cooperation with the opposition party PKS. PDIP sees Surya Paloh as the “bad boy” in the coalition. Nasdem and PKS agreed to strengthen a check-and balance system in the Parliament over President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo administration. Considering the soured relationship between PDIP Chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri and Paloh, we can understand why PDIP reacted negatively. What will Jokowi do?